The present disclosure relates generally to an arrangement for, and a method of, conserving electrical power in a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network and, more particularly, to conserving battery power in a BLE beacon to increase the working lifetime of the battery.
Bluetooth is a known local area networking wireless technology standard for exchanging data over relatively short distances using radio frequency (RF) waves in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. A Bluetooth-enabled device has a software-implemented, Bluetooth stack that supports various native Bluetooth versions, e.g., Version 4.0, also known as Bluetooth low energy (BLE), which is designed to consume very little electrical power. A BLE device, which is known as a BLE beacon, transmits or broadcasts a message, e.g., a unique identifier (ID), to a Bluetooth-enabled, wireless mobile device, such as a smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a radio, a headset, a laptop, a printer, a modem, a smartwatch, a pair of glasses, and a like mobile device. One or more BLE beacons may be deployed in a network that includes a beacon manager and a network controller. Each such mobile device processes the message transmitted by the BLE beacon to perform various functions, e.g., to determine the physical location of the mobile device relative to the BLE beacon in a venue with a high or fine degree of precision, e.g., from a few meters down to a few centimeters, and/or to precisely track movement of the mobile device in the venue, and/or to perform one or more actions or services when the mobile device is in close proximity with, or within one or more predetermined ranges of distances relative to, the BLE beacon. A typical example of a location-based action in mobile commerce is to advertise or offer a special deal for goods on a consumer's smartphone as the consumer walks about in a retail store in which BLE beacons are deployed.
The BLE beacon is configured in various form factors and, although it may be powered by various power sources, it is typically powered by one or more coin cell batteries or cylindrical dry cell batteries, each of whose working lifetimes is limited. For example, an individual battery lifetime can typically range between 1-24 months depending upon such factors, among others, as how often the messages are transmitted (i.e., the transmission rate or frequency), the duration of each message (i.e., the transmission time), and the power level of each message transmission (i.e., the transmit power). Although the BLE beacon is designed for power efficiency to minimize battery power consumption, the known BLE beacon is typically always operating in an active mode, in which the BLE beacon, among other things, periodically transmits messages even when there are no mobile devices present in the venue to process the messages. Under these conditions, such periodic transmissions consume and waste electrical power and reduce the working lifetime of the battery, thereby leading to more frequent network downtimes and battery replacements, as well as to higher equipment and maintenance costs.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to conserve the battery's power, to replace the battery less frequently, to increase the battery's working lifetime, to decrease equipment and maintenance costs, and to more efficiently utilize the battery, in the BLE beacon.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and locations of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The arrangement and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.